It is the
oldest and most populous remaining British overseas territory,
settled by England a century before the Acts of Union created the United Kingdom
of Great Britain.Bermuda's first capital, St
George's, was settled in 1612 and is the oldest continuously
inhabited English town in the Americas.

Although usually referred to in the singular, the territory
consists of approximately 138 islands, with a total area of 53.3
square kilometres (20.6 sq mi). The largest island,
Main Island, is sometimes itself called Bermuda.
Compiling a list of the islands is often complicated, as many have
more than one name (as does the entire archipelago, which has also
been known historically as La Garza, Virgineola,
and the Isle of Devils). Despite its small land mass, there has
been a tendency for place names to be repeated; there are, for
example, two islands named Long Island, and St George's
Town is located on St George's
Island within St George's
Parish (each known as St
George's).

History

Pre-settlement

Bermuda was officially discovered in 1503 by a Spanish explorer,
Juan de Bermúdez. It is
mentioned in Legatio Babylonica, published in 1511 by
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, and
was also included on Spanish charts of that year. Both Spanish and
Portuguese ships used the islands as a replenishment spot for fresh
meat and water, but legends of spirits and
devils, now thought to have stemmed only from the callings of
raucous birds (most likely the Bermuda
Petrel, or Cahow), and of perpetual, storm-wracked
conditions (most early visitors arrived under such conditions) and
a surrounding ring of treacherous reefs kept them from attempting
any permanent settlement on the Isle of
Devils.

Bermúdez and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo ventured to Bermuda in
1515 with the intention of leaving a breeding stock of hogs on the
island as a future stock of fresh meat for passing ships. However,
the inclement weather prevented them from landing.

Some years
later, a Portuguese ship on the way home from Santo Domingo wedged
itself between two rocks on the reef. The crew tried to
salvage as much as they could and spent the next four months
building a new hull from Bermuda cedar
to return to their initial departure point. One of these stranded
sailors is most likely the person who carved the initials "R"and
"P," "1543" into this

Settlement by the English

For the next century, the island is believed to have been visited
frequently but not permanently settled. The first two English
colonies in Virginia had failed, and a more determined effort was
initiated by King James I of
England (James VI of Scotland), who granted a Royal Charter to
The Virginia Company. In 1609, a
flotilla of ships left England under the
Company's Admiral, Sir George Somers,
to relieve the colony of Jamestown, settled two years before.
Somers had previous experience sailing with both Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. The flotilla was broken up by
a storm, and the flagship, the Sea
Venture, was wrecked off Bermuda (as depicted on the
territory's coat of arms),
leaving the survivors in possession of a new territory. (William
Shakespeare's play The
Tempest is thought to have been inspired by William Strachey's account of this
shipwreck.) The island was claimed for the English Crown, and the
charter of the Virginia Company was extended to include it. St
George's was settled in 1612 and made Bermuda's first capital. It
is the oldest continually inhabited English town in the New
World.

In 1615, the colony was passed to a new company, the Somers Isles Company (The Somers
Isles remains an official name for the colony), formed by the
same shareholders. The close ties with Virginia were
commemorated even after Bermuda's separation by reference to the
archipelago in many Virginian place names, such as Bermuda
City, and Bermuda
Hundred. The first British coins in America were struck
here.

Most of the survivors of the Sea Venture had carried on to
Jamestown in 1610 aboard two Bermuda-built ships. Among them was
John Rolfe, who left a wife and child
buried in Bermuda, but in Jamestown would marry Pocahontas, a daughter of Powhatan. Intentional settlement of Bermuda
began with the arrival of the Plough, in 1612.

Company colony - the 17th century

Because of its limited land area, Bermuda has had difficulty with
over-population. In the first two centuries of settlement it relied
on steady human emigration to keep the population manageable.
It is
often claimed that, before the American Revolution more than
ten thousand Bermudians (over half of the population) emigrated,
primarily to the American
South, where Great Britain was displacing Spain as the
dominant European imperial power. A steady trickle of
outward migration continued. With seafaring being the only real
industry, by the end of the 18th
century at least a third of the island's manpower was at sea at
any one time.

The archipelago's limited land area and resources led to the
creation of what may be the earliest conservation laws of the
New World. In 1616 and 1620 acts were
passed banning the hunting of certain birds and young
tortoises

In 1649, the English Civil War
raged and King Charles I was
beheaded in Whitehall, London. The execution resulted in the
outbreak of a Bermudian civil war; it was ended by embodied
militias. This created a strong sense of devotion to
the crown for the majority of colonists and it forced those who
would not swear allegiance, such as Puritans
and independents, into exile in the Bahamas.

Bermuda Gazette of 12 November, 1796,
calling for privateering against Spain and its allies, and with
advertisements for crew for two privateer vessels.

In the 17th century the Somers Isles
Company suppressed shipbuilding, as it needed Bermudians to farm in
order to generate income from the land. Agricultural production met
with only limited success, however. The Bermuda cedar boxes used to
ship tobacco to England were reportedly worth more than their
contents. The colony of Virginia far surpassed Bermuda in both
quality and quantity of tobacco produced.
Bermudians began to turn to maritime trades relatively early in the
17th century, but the Somers Isles Company used all its authority
to suppress turning away from agriculture. This interference led to
the islanders demanding, and receiving, the revocation of the
Company's charter in 1684; the Company itself being
dissolved.

The 18th century and a maritime economy

After the dissolution of the Somers Isle Company, Bermudians
rapidly abandoned agriculture for shipbuilding, replanting farmland
with the native juniper (Juniperus bermudiana, also called
Bermuda cedar) trees that grew thickly over the whole
island. Establishing effective control over the Turks Islands,
Bermudians deforested their landscape to begin the salt trade that
would become the world's largest, and remained the cornerstone of
Bermuda's economy for the next century.Bermudian sailors would turn
their hands to far more trades than supplying salt, however.
Whaling, privateering, and the merchant
trade were all pursued vigorously. Vessels would sail the normal
shipping routes, but had to engage an enemy vessel no matter the
size or strength, and as a result many ships were destroyed.The
Bermuda sloop became highly regarded
for its speed and manoeuvrability. In fact, it was the Bermuda sloop , one
of the fastest vessels in the Royal Navy,
that brought the news of the victory at Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Nelson back to
England.

was here that the British soldiers assembled before being sent to
attack Baltimore and Washington. In 1816, James Arnold, the son of famed U.S.
traitor Benedict Arnold, fortified
Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard against possible U.S. attacks.
Today, the "Maritime
Museum" occupies the Keep of the Royal
Naval Dockyard, including the Commissioner's House, and exhibits
artifacts of the base's military history.

As a result of Bermuda's proximity to the southeastern U.S. coast,
it was regularly used by Confederate
Statesblockade runners during
the American Civil War to evade
Union naval vessels and bring desperately needed war goods to the
South from England. The old Globe Hotel in St George's, which was a
centre of intrigue for Confederate agents, is preserved as a museum
open to the public.

20th century - Economic and political development

Bermuda mid-1920s

In the early 20th century, as modern
transport and communication systems developed, Bermuda became a
popular destination for wealthy American, Canadian and British
tourists arriving by frequent steamship service. In addition, the
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
enacted by the United States against its trading partners in 1930,
cut off Bermuda's once-thriving agricultural export trade
(primarily lilies and fresh vegetables to the U.S.), spurring the
overseas territory to develop its tourist industry. In the late 1930s,
Imperial Airways and Pan American World Airways began
operating scheduled flying-boat airline services from New York and Baltimore to Darrell's Island, Bermuda.In 1948, regularly-scheduled commercial
airline service by land-based airplanes began to Kindley
Field (now Bermuda International Airport), helping tourism to reach its peak in the
1960s–1970s. By the end of the 20th century, international
business had supplanted tourism as the dominant sector of Bermuda's
economy (see "Economy", below).

The Royal Naval Dockyard and the attendant military garrison
continued to be an important component of Bermuda's economy until
the mid-20th century. In addition to considerable building work,
the armed forces needed to source food and other materials from
local vendors. Beginning in World War
II, U.S. military installations also were located in Bermuda
(see "Military" section, below, and Military of Bermuda).

Universal adult suffrage and the development of a two-party
political system occurred in the 1960s. Before universal suffrage,
adopted as part of Bermuda's Constitution in 1967, voting was based
on property ownership (see "Politics" section, below, and Politics of Bermuda). On March 10, 1973,
then-Governor of Bermuda Richard
Sharples was assassinated by local Black
Power militants during a period of civil unrest in the
1970s.

Climate

Although
Bermuda's latitude is similar to that of Savannah,
Georgia, it is warmer in winter, and slightly cooler in
summer. Its humid
subtropical climate is warmed by the nearby Gulf Stream, thanks to the westerlies, which carry warm, humid air eastwards
over Bermuda, helping to keep winter temperatures above freezing.
The climate is humid and, as a result, the summertime heat index
can be high, even though mid-August temperatures rarely exceed 30
°C (86 °F). Winters are mild, with average daytime temperatures in
January and February around 20 °C (68 °F), although cold fronts, which dominate the local weather for
most of the year, bring Arctic air masses
that can result in rapid temperature drops. Atlantic winter storms,
often associated with these cold fronts, can produce powerful,
gusting winds and heavy rain. Factoring in the wind chill, the felt air temperature in winter can fall
below freezing, 0 °C (32 °F), even though the actual temperature
rarely drops below 10 °C (50 °F). The lowest recorded temperature
in Bermuda as of 2003 is 7.2 °C (45 °F).

Bermuda is very susceptible to hurricanes. Its position along the Gulf Stream means that it is often directly in
the path of hurricanes recurving in the westerlies, although they have usually begun to
weaken as they approach the island. It is often affected by these
hurricanes, although the island's small size means that direct
landfalls are rare. The last
hurricane to cause significant damage to the islands was category 3Hurricane Fabian on September 5, 2003. Its
eastern eyewall hit the territory and four people were
killed.

The only source of fresh water in Bermuda is rainfall, which is
collected on roofs and catchments (or drawn from underground
lenses) and stored in tanks. Each dwelling usually has at least one
of these tanks forming part of its foundation.

Politics

Executive authority in Bermuda is vested in the monarch and is
exercised on her behalf by the Governor. The governor is appointed by
the Queen on the advice of the British Government. The current governor
is Sir Richard Hugh Turton Gozney
KCMG; he was sworn in on December 12, 2007. There is also a
Deputy Governor (currently Mark Andrew Capes JP). Defence and foreign affairs remain
the responsibility of the United Kingdom, which also retains
responsibility to ensure good government. It must approve any
changes to the Constitution of Bermuda. Bermuda now exists as an
overseas territory of Britain, but it is the oldest British colony.
In 1620,
a Royal Assent granted Bermuda limited self-governance, thus making
the Parliament of Bermuda the
fifth oldest in the world, behind only the Parliament
of the United Kingdom, the Tynwald of the Isle of Man, the Althing of Iceland and Sejm
of the Republic of Poland. Of these, it is the only one
to have met continuously as a legislature since its inception
through to today.

The Constitution of Bermuda came into force on June 1, 1967 and was
amended in 1989 and 2003. The head of government is the premier. A cabinet is nominated by the
premier and appointed officially by the governor. The legislative
branch consists of a bicameral
parliament modelled on the Westminster system. The Senate is the upper house consisting of
eleven members appointed by the governor on the advice of the
premier and the leader of the opposition. The House of Assembly, or lower
house, has thirty-six members elected by the eligible voting
populace in secret ballot to represent geographically defined
constituencies. Elections must
be called at no more than five-year intervals. The Progressive Labour Party
won the most recent general election held on December 18, 2007,
winning 22 of 36 seats in the House of Assembly.

Following his victory over former Premier Alex Scott at the Progressive Labour
Party delegates' conference in October 2006, the current premier is
Ewart Brown. The United Bermuda Party serves in opposition.The Progressive Labour
Party leadership favours independence from the United Kingdom,
although polls have indicated that this is not supported by the
population. While a referendum in 1995 on independence was defeated
by a substantial margin, the Bermuda Industrial Union and the
Progressive Labour Party (then in the Opposition) had called for a
boycott of the referendum, having an unquantified impact on the
result.

There are few accredited diplomats in Bermuda. The United States
maintains the largest diplomatic mission in Bermuda, comprising
both the United States Consulate and the U.S.Customs and Border
Protection Services at the Bermuda
International Airport. The current U.S. Consul General is Grace
Shelton, who replaced Gregory W.Slayton as the U.S. Chief of
Mission in Bermuda in August 2009. Given that the United States is
by far Bermuda's largest trading partner (providing over 71% of
total imports, 85% of tourist visitors, and an estimated $163
billion of U.S. capital in the Bermuda insurance/re-insurance
industry alone, and the fact that an estimated 5% of Bermuda
residents are U.S. citizens, which represents 14% of all
foreign-born persons), American diplomatic presence is seen as an
important element in the Bermuda political landscape.

A General Election must be held in
Bermuda every five years. Following the PLP's re-election in 2007,
the next election must be held no later than 2012.

Armed forces

Remembrance Day Parade, Hamilton,
Bermuda

Once known as the Gibraltar of the West, the defence of
Bermuda remains the responsibility of the British government. Until
the American Revolutionary
War, following which Bermuda became the Royal Navy's Western
Atlantic headquarters, the Bermuda government had maintained
militia for the defence of the colony. Once
the Royal Navy established a base and dockyard defended by regular
soldiers, however, these militias became superfluous and were
disbanded following the War of 1812. At
the end of the 19th century, the colony
did raise volunteer
units to form a reserve for the military garrison.

Due to
its strategic location in the North Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda was vital to the Allies' war effort during
both world wars of the 20th century,
serving as a marshalling point for trans-Atlantic convoys, as well
as a naval and air base (during the Second World War).

In May 1940, the U.S. requested base rights in Bermuda from the
United Kingdom, but British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was initially unwilling
to accede to the American request without getting something in
return. In September, 1940, as part of the Destroyers for Bases
Agreement, the United Kingdom granted the U.S. base rights in
Bermuda. Bermuda and Newfoundland were not originally included in the agreement, but
both were added to it, with no war material received in
exchange. However, one of the terms of the agreement was
that the airfield the U.S. Army was to build in Bermuda would be
used jointly by the U.S. and the U.K. (which it was for the
duration of the war, with RAF Transport Command relocating there
from Darrell's
Island in 1943). Construction began in 1941 of two airbases
consisting of 5.8 km² (2¼ sq mi, 1,400 acres) of
land, largely reclaimed from the sea. For many years, Bermuda's
bases were used by U.S.Air Force transport and refueling aircraft
and by U.S.Navy aircraft patrolling the Atlantic for enemy
submarines, first German and, later,
Soviet.The
principal installation, Kindley Air Force Base on the eastern coast, was transferred to the
U.S. Navy in 1970 and redesignated Naval Air Station Bermuda. As a
naval air station, the base continued to host both transient and
deployed USN and USAF aircraft, as well as transitioning or
deployed Royal Air Force and
Canadian Forces aircraft,

The original NAS Bermuda on the west
side of the island, a seaplane base until the mid-1960s, became the
Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex and provided optional anchorage
and/or dockage facilities for transiting U.S.Navy, U.S.Coast Guard
and NATO vessels,
depending on size.. An additional U.S. Navy compound known
as Naval Facility Bermuda (NAVFAC Bermuda), a SOSUS station, was located to the west of the Annex
near a Canadian Forces communications facility. Although leased for
99 years, U.S. forces withdrew in 1995, as part of the wave of base
closures following the end of the Cold
War.

Canada, which had operated a war-time naval base, HMCS Somers Isles, on the old Royal
Navy base at Convict Bay, St George's, also established a
radio-listening post at Daniel's Head, in the West End of
the islands during this time.

In the 1950s, after the end of World War II, the Royal Naval
dockyard and the military garrison were closed. A small Royal Navy supply base, HMS Malabar, continued to operate within the
dockyard area, supporting transiting Royal Navy ships and
submarines until it, too, was closed in 1995, along with the
American and Canadian bases.

In both World War I and World War II, Bermudians served in the
British armed forces. Amongst the latter was Major-General Glyn Charles Anglim Gilbert, Bermuda's highest
ranking soldier. After the war, he was instrumental in developing
the Bermuda Regiment. A number of other Bermudians and children of
Bermudians had preceded him into senior ranks, including
Bahamian-born Admiral Lord Gambier, and
Bermudian-born Royal Marines Brigadier
Harvey, who, when promoted to that rank at age 39, following his
wounding at the Anzio landings,
became the youngest-ever Royal Marine Brigadier. The Cenotaph in front of the Cabinet Building (in Hamilton) was
erected in tribute to Bermuda's Great War dead (the tribute was
later extended to Bermuda's Second World War dead) and is the site
of the annual Remembrance Day
commemoration.

Today, the only military unit remaining in Bermuda is the Bermuda Regiment, an amalgam of the
voluntary units originally formed toward the end of the 19th
century. Although the Regiment consists of 'voluntary units' there
still exists conscription in which balloted males are required to
serve for three years, two months part time, once they turn
eighteen.

Role in international relations

As an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, Bermuda has no seat
in the United Nations and is
represented by the UK in foreign affairs. Bermuda's close proximity
to the United States has made it the site of past summit
conferences between British Prime Ministers and U.S. Presidents.
The first summit was held in December, 1953, at the insistence of
Prime Minister Winston Churchill
to discuss relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Participants at the conference included
Churchill, U.S. President Dwight
D.Eisenhower, and French
Premier Joseph Laniel. In 1957, a second
summit conference was held, this time Harold Macmillan was the British Prime
Minister and he arrived earlier than President Eisenhower to make
it clear that they were meeting on British territory, as tensions
were still high regarding the conflict over the Suez Canal in the previous year. It was said the two
discussed the general situation of the world. Macmillan would
return in 1961 for the third summit with President John F. Kennedy, who was familiar with
Bermuda having made numerous personal visits. The meeting was
called to discuss the Cold War tensions
arising from construction of the Berlin Wall. The most recent summit conference in
Bermuda between the two powers occurred in 1971, when British Prime
Minister Edward Heath met U.S.
President Richard Nixon.

Asylum offered to four former Guantánamo detainees

The four men were among 22 Uyghurs who claimed to be refugees, who
were captured in 2001 in Pakistan after fleeing the American aerial
bombardment of Afghanistan. They were suspected of training to
assist Taliban's military. They were cleared
as safe for release from Guantánamo in 2005 or 2006. But U.S. domestic law
prohibited deporting them back to China, their
country of citizenship, because it was deemed by the U.S.
government that China was likely to abuse their human
rights.

In September 2008 the men were cleared of all suspicion, and Judge
in Washington ordered their release. However domestic
opposition to their admittance to the United States was very
strong, and, until Bermuda and Palau agreed to
accept them in June 2009, the U.S. had failed to find a home for
them.

The
secret bilateral discussions leading to the transfer of prisoners
between the U.S. and the devolved Bermuda government sparked
diplomatic ire from the government of the United Kingdom, which was not consulted on the move despite
Bermuda being a British territory. The British Foreign
Office issued the following statement: "We've underlined to the
Bermuda Government that they should have consulted with the United
Kingdom as to whether this falls within their competence or is a
security issue, for which the Bermuda Government do not have
delegated responsibility. We have made clear to the Bermuda
Government the need for a security assessment, which we are now
helping them to carry out, and we will decide on further steps as
appropriate."

Economy

Coins circulating in 2006

Since switching from the Bermudian
pound in 1970, Bermuda's currency has been the Bermudian dollar, which is pegged to the US dollar. US notes and coins are used
interchangeably with Bermudian notes and coins within the islands
for most practical purposes; however, banks levy a small exchange
rate for the purchase of US dollars with Bermudian dollars.
Bermudian notes carry the image of HM Queen Elizabeth II. The Bermuda
Monetary Authority is the issuing authority for all banknotes and
coins, as well as being responsible for the regulation of financial
institutions. There is a permanent exhibition of Bermuda notes and
coins at the Royal Naval Dockyard Museum.

Bermuda's per capita income is approximately 50% higher than that
of the United States; according to the Bermuda Government's
Economic Statistics Division, Bermuda's GDP was $5.85 billion in 2007, or
$91,477 per-capita, giving Bermuda the highest GDP per capita in
the world.

The affordability of housing has become a prominent issue over the
past few years. The CIAWorld Factbook lists the average cost of a
house in June 2003 as $976,000, while real estate agencies have
claimed that this figure had risen to $1.6 million by 2006, and to
$1.845 million by early 2007, though such high figures have been
disputed.

Bermuda is an offshore
financial centre, which results from its low direct taxation on personal or corporate income. The local
tax system is based upon import duties, payroll taxes and consumption taxes. The legal system is
derived from that of the United Kingdom, with recourse to English
courts of final appeal.

As the offshore domicile of many foreign companies, Bermuda has a
highly-developed international business economy; it is a financial exporter of financial services,
primarily insurance, reinsurance, investment funds and special purpose vehicles (SPV).
Finance and international business now constitute the largest
sector of Bermuda's economy.However in September 2009, it was
reported that a growing number of companies were moving from
Bermuda to Ireland as part of a search for "a more stable
environment".

Hamilton

Large numbers of leading international insurance companies are
based in Bermuda making the territory one of the world's largest
reinsurance centres. Those internationally owned and operated
businesses that are physically based in Bermuda—of which there are
around four hundred—are represented by the Association of Bermuda
International Companies (ABIC). In total, over 1,500 exempted or
international companies are currently registered with the Registrar
of Companies in Bermuda.

The Bermuda Stock Exchange
(BSX), established in 1971, is now the world's largest fully
electronic offshore securities market, with a current market
capitalisation (excluding mutual funds) in excess of US$330 billion
. There are four hundred securities listed on the stock exchange,
of which almost three hundred are offshore funds and alternative
investment structures attracted by Bermuda's regulatory
environment. The Exchange specialises in listing and trading of
capital market instruments such as equities, debt issues, funds
(including hedge fund structures) and depository receipt
programmes.

The BSX is a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges
and is located in an OECD member nation. It
also has Approved Stock Exchange status under Australia's Foreign
Investment Fund (FIF) taxation rules and Designated Investment
Exchange status by the UK's Financial Services Authority.

Tourism is Bermuda's second largest industry, with the island
attracting over one-half million visitors annually, of whom more
than 80% are from the United States. Other significant sources of
visitors are from Canada and the United Kingdom. Tourists arrive
either by cruise ship or by air at Bermuda
International Airport, the only airport on the island.

Education

The Bermuda Education Act 1996 requires that only three categories
of schools can operate in the Bermuda Education system:

aided school, has all or a part of its property vested
in a body of trustees or board of governors and is partially
maintained by public funding or, since 1965 and the desegregation
of schools, has received a grant-in-aid out of public funds.

maintained school, has the whole of its property
belonging to the Government and is fully maintained by public
funds.

private school, not maintained by public funds and has
not, since 1965 and the desegregation of schools, received any
capital grant-in-aid out of public funds. The private school sector
consists of 6 traditional private schools, two of which are
religious schools, and the remaining four are secular with one of
these being a single gender school and another a Montessori school. Also, within the
private sector there are a number of home schools which must be
registered with the government and receive minimal government
regulation. The only boys’ school opened its doors to girls in the
1990s and in 1996, one of the maintained public schools became a
private school.

Prior to 1965, the Bermuda school system was racially segregated
and when the desegregation of schools was enacted in 1965, two of
the formally maintained "white" schools and both single gender
schools opted to become private schools. The rest became part of
the public school system and were either aided or maintained.

At present there are 26 schools in the Bermuda Public School
System, eighteen of which are primary schools, five are middle
schools, two senior schools and one special school. There is also
an Alternative Programme provided for students with behavioural
challenges who cannot function in the public mainstream. There are
two aided primary schools, two aided middle schools and one aided
senior school.

For
higher education, the Bermuda College offers various associate degrees and other certificate
programmes. Bermuda does not have any four-year colleges or
universities.

In May 2009, Bermudian Government's application was approved to
become a contributory member of the University of the West Indies
(UWI). Bermuda's membership is slated to allow Bermudian students
to enter the University at an agreed upon subsidized rate possibly
as early as the 2009/2010 school year. UWI also agrees that their
Open Campus (online degree courses) would become open to Bermudian
students in future with Bermuda becoming the 13th country to have
access to the Open Campus.

Sightseeing and attractions

One of Bermuda's pink sand beaches, at
Astwood Park

Bermuda's unusual pink sand beaches and clear, cerulean blue ocean waters are popular with
tourists and many of Bermuda's hotels are located along the south
shore of the island. In addition to its beaches, there are a number
of sightseeing attractions. Historic St George's is a designated
World Heritage Site. Scuba divers can explore numerous wrecks and coral reefs
in relatively shallow water (typically in depth) with virtually
unlimited visibility. Many nearby reefs are readily accessible
from shore by snorkellers, especially at
Church
Bay.

Bermuda's most popular visitor attraction is the Royal Naval
Dockyard, which includes the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Other
attractions include the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, Bermuda
Underwater Exploration Institute, the Botanical Gardens,
lighthouses, and the Crystal Caves with its impressive stalactites and underground saltwater
pools.

It is not possible to rent a car on the island; however, visitors
can hire scooters for use as
private transport, or use public transport.

Arts and culture

Bermuda's culture is a mixture of the various sources of its
population, though little trace remains of the various Native
American, Spanish-Caribbean, African, Irish or Scots cultures that
would have been evident in the 17th century, with Anglo-Saxon culture becoming dominant.
Today,
the only language other than English that is spoken by any
substantial part of the population is actually Portuguese,
following one hundred and sixty years of immigration from
Portuguese Atlantic islands (primarily the Azores, though also from Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands). There are strong British influences,
together with Afro-Caribbean.
A second
wave of immigration from the West Indies has been sustained throughout the 20th century,
although, unlike the Africans who immigrated from that area as
indentured servants (or who were imported as slaves) in the 17th
century, the more recent arrivals have mostly come from English
speaking countries (albeit, most of the West Indian islands whose
populations now speak English were then part of the Spanish Empire). This new infusion of
West Indians has both accelerated social and political change, and
diversified Bermuda's culture. West Indian musicians introduced
Calypso music when Bermuda's tourist
industry was expanded with the increase of visitors brought by post
Second World War aviation. While Calypso music appealed more to the
visitors than to the locals, Reggae has been
embraced since the 1970s with the influx of Jamaican immigration.

Bermuda's literary history was largely limited to non-Bermudian
writers commenting on the island. In the 20th century, a large
number of books were written and published locally, though few were
aimed at a wider market than Bermuda (most of these being scholarly
reference books, rather than creative writing). One Bermudian
novelist, Brian Burland, has achieved a degree of success and
acclaim internationally, although the first (and undoubtedly the
most important, historically) notable book credited to a Bermudian
was the History of Mary Prince, a slave narrative by a
Bermudian woman, Mary Prince, which
helped to end slavery in the British
Empire. Bermuda's proximity to the United States means that
many aspects of US culture are reflected or incorporated into
Bermudian culture. Many non-Bermudian writers have also made
Bermuda their home, or have had homes here, including A.J.Cronin and
F.Van Wyck Mason, who wrote on Bermudian
subjects.

Dance and music are important in
Bermuda. The dances of the colourful Gombey Dancers, seen
at many events, were influenced by imported Native American and
African slaves.

Every year Bermuda hosts an international film festival, which
shows many independent films. One of the festival's founders is
film producer and director Arthur
Rankin, Jr., co-founder of the Rankin/Bass production company.

Bermuda water colours painted by local artists are sold at various
galleries and elaborately hand-carved cedar sculptures are another
specialty. One such sculpture created by Bermudian artisan Chesley
Trott is on display at the airport's baggage claim area. Local
artwork may also be viewed at several galleries around the island.
Alfred
Birdsey was one of the more famous and talented water colourists,
his impressionistic landscapes of Hamilton, St George's and the surrounding sailboats, homes, and bays of
Bermuda are world-renowned.

Every Easter, Bermudians of all ages build kites, usually of a
traditional Bermudian type, which are flown to symbolise Christ's
ascent. A Bermudian kite is made to
geometric designs, quite colourful, and is an art form as much as a
recreational tool. Despite this, Bermudian kites are very
airworthy, holding world records for altitude and duration of
flight.

Bermuda has the world's highest acreage of golf courses as a
percentage of its total landmass. In 2007 Bermuda hosted the 25th
PGA Grand Slam of Golf. This
36-hole event was held on October 16-17, 2007, at the Mid Ocean Club in Tucker's Town. This season ending
tournament is between only four golfers - the winners of the
Masters, U.S.Open, British Open and PGA Championship. The event returned to
Bermuda again in 2008 and 2009.

The Government announced in 2006 that it will provide substantial
financial support to Bermuda's cricket and football teams. Bermuda's
most prominent footballers include Clyde
Best and Shaun Goater. In 2006, the
Bermuda Hogges were formed as the
nation's first professional football team in order to raise the
standard of play for the Bermuda national football team. The team
plays in the United Soccer Leagues
Second Division.

At the 2004 Summer
Olympics, Bermuda competed in sailing, athletics, swimming,
diving, triathlon and equestrian events. In those Olympics,
Bermuda's Katura Horton-Perinchief made history by becoming the
first black female diver to compete in the Olympic Games. Bermuda
has had one Olympic medallist, Clarence Hill, who won a bronze medal
in boxing. Bermuda also recently competed in Men's
Skeleton (head first luge) at the
2006 Winter Olympics in
Turin, Italy. Patrick Singleton placed 19th, with
a final time of 1:59.81. Bermuda also competes in the biennial
Island Games,
which it will host in 2013.

Demographics

A July 2005 estimate put Bermuda's population at 65,365. The ethnic
makeup of Bermuda is 54.8% black, 34.1% white, and 6.4% multiracial. The islands have a small but
growing Asian community. A significant segment of the population is
also of Portuguese ancestry (10%),
the result of immigration from Portuguese-held islands (especially
the Azores) during the past 160 years.

Several thousand expatriate workers,
principally from the UK, Canada, the West Indies, South Africa and
the U.S., also reside in Bermuda, primarily engaged in specialised
professions such as accounting, finance, and insurance. Others are
employed in various trades, such as hotels, restaurants,
construction, and landscaping services. Of the total workforce of
38,947 persons in 2005, government employment figures state that
11,223 (29 percent) are non-Bermudians.